Science Friday

News & Information: Sat • 1PM-3PM

Hosted by
Ira Flatow

Yes, we know it's on Saturday but they wouldn't change the name of the show for us ... we asked. But we think it's a great program for Saturdays. Covering the outer reaches of space to the tiniest microbes in our bodies, Science Friday is the trusted source for news about science, technology, and other cool stuff. Each week host Ira Flatow mixes it up with people in the know and those who want to be. It's brain fun, for curious people.

If you’re like most people, you probably think of coal as a chunk of black fossil fuel. Geologist Jen O’Keefe sees it differently: For her, each piece of coal is a window back in time.

“I'm really interested in why we have coal in the first place, and what it can tell us about ancient environments,” says O’Keefe, a professor of geology and science education at Morehead State University. “We've got this great time capsule in our backyard that we can start to pick apart.”

Venture near a cave at night, and you may glimpse a phenomenon that still stymies scientists: Thousands of bats streaming out of the cave at high speeds, using echolocation to avoid in-air collisions.

“All we know about science, physics, biology says that [bats are] doing an impossible task by echolocating in these large groups,” says Laura Kloepper, an assistant professor of biology at Saint Mary’s College in Indiana. “What we know about how echolocation works is that when they're in these groups, the signals from each bat should be interfering with each other.”